Kind of ironic: a Pomeranian is killed and a second dog was attacked by NON pit bull type dogs. The second dog attacked ….was a pit bull. And yes there are reports that not only have these dogs attacked before.....they have killed before. Also in the last reported local dog killing dog news story I remember (Woodend by St. Catharines) the two dogs were NON pit bull type dogs.

The two dogs that had apparently killed the purebred pomeranian stood over his lifeless little body.

It was a frantic telephone call from a neighbour across from their Cross Street home that alerted him to the trouble.

“She was yelling on the phone, telling me to go out front,” the 20-year-old recalled.

But by the time he got to Freddy’s side and chased away the two mixed breed black labs, it was much too late.

“He was torn almost in half,” Eric told The Tribune.

Eric grabbed a baseball bat and chased the dogs around the corner onto McRae Avenue.

He followed them for two blocks onto Johnson Street where they attacked a second dog a little pit bull.

While continuing his pursuit of the dogs, Eric yelled to the pit bull owners to call the police.

The dogs led Eric to their home on Johnson Street, but their owner wasn’t home. Instead, a neighbour put the dogs in his garage.

Eric loved that dog, he said, but it was even more precious to his mother Edie.

“He was my baby,” she cried. “I know that sounds really silly, but to me that’s what he was.

“Every move I made he was at my heels, as soon as I moved on the couch, he was at my feet. When I got out of bed in the morning, he was right there shaking and waiting for me. He’s going to be missed a great deal.”

Freddy was tied out that morning just as he had been everyday since since he came to live with the family about four years ago. The family always kept him on his leash, trying to keep him safe.

The fact that Freddy died so violently despite their efforts left Edie speechless.

“Words can’t describe the feeling,” she said.

It’s not the first time the dogs had been terrorizing the neighbourhood.

“They have killed at least one other dog that I know of,” Edie said. “And they attacked my dog two years ago.”

At that time, she said a friend was walking him along the road when the same two dogs attacked him. She’s seen the same two dogs running loose many times since.

“When I went over and found out where they were living, three or four of the neighbours came out and were complaining about the dogs too,” Eric added. “They couldn’t let their dogs out because these dogs would attack them.”

As of Monday afternoon, the dogs were being held at the humane society’s Port Colborne shelter. And Edie hopes that’s where they remain.

“They’d better not be set free again,” she warned.

Welland and District Humane Society manager Ted Bettle said the humane society is limited in determining penalties by municipal bylaws.

And they’ve been lobbying to add some teeth to Port’s animal control policies.

“In fact, we are in the process of looking at the bylaw structure in Port Colborne to add some severity to it,” Bettle said adding the dog attack Saturday will likely help the humane society’s efforts to do that.

“I think this incident would certainly help that process,” he said.

Port Colborne’s director of community and corporate services, Peter Senese, agreed that the city’s animal control bylaws could stand for some improvement.

“What they do need are stiffer fines on them,” Senese said. “Over the next few months we’re going to be working with the humane society in reviewing our bylaw. If there’s anything there they feel we could provide more to that would help them do their job easier and better, then we would probably look at considering those and bringing any amendments to the bylaw to council at that time.”

As of Monday afternoon, investigators still hadn’t made contact with the owner. And since the investigation was ongoing Bettle couldn’t delve into much more detail such as releasing the name of the dogs’ owner.

Still, Bettle was confident charges would be levied against the owner.

“A muzzle order and fines are pending,” said Bettle.

While dog attacks of that severity don’t happen very often, Bettle said it’s the same sort of situation that can result in injuries to people especially children who might try to break up the fight.

“It’s very unfortunate,” he said. “This is a rarity, and thank God it is, but obviously it happens.”

It’s ironic that the second dog that was attacked was a pit bull a breed of dog that was the topic of the province’s recent viscous dog legislation.

“It makes a good point,” Bettle said. “This legislation should have covered this circumstance as well, not just the breed. That’s what we were hoping it would do, but unfortunately the provincial government never followed through with any suggestions from any of the humane society’s or the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).”

For Edie, the tragic loss of her companion is something she never wants to have to bear gain.

“That’s it for me, no more pets. I can’t do this,” she said.

“I can’t go through this again. It’s like losing one of my family members. It just breaks your heart.”

babyrocky1

March 8th, 2006, 07:56 PM

Its a wonder they didnt grab the pit bull type dog that got attacked and blame him, oh the pit bull edged them on ofcourse! Or maybe it wa all the pit bulls idea and he communicated that to the other dogs!:rolleyes: Im sure Bryaant would say it was a "pit bull conspiracy" No other breeds attack or bite!

twodogsandacat

March 8th, 2006, 11:27 PM

Im sure Bryaant would say it was a "pit bull conspiracy" No other breeds attack or bite!

Except here in the Niagara Region.....where they kill....again.

What I find odd is that in every pit bull attack story there is always a neighbour who says: "if that were a child they'd be dead". I guess they only say that in pit bull attack stories. However I will say it here...."if that dead Pomeranian was a child it would be a dead child".

mastifflover

March 9th, 2006, 12:42 PM

That is very sad but that is also why you never tie your dog up. If the dog was not tied up he may have stood a chance of getting away. If you do not have a fenced yard then you have to walk your dog. I am sure the pit bull provoked the whole attack and had the other dogs attack him to take the spotlight off him. If there were complaints about these dogs previously why were they running loose?

seeker

March 10th, 2006, 06:34 PM

I feel much safer that Bill 132 was passed....don't you?

”

I feel especially good knowing that if my dogs are attacked they will be muzzled so they cannot fight back and harm the attacking dogs .
I ALSO wouldn't want my 45lb or 90lb pitbull to get in the way of 2 or more roaming 100+lb dogs if they want to kill some Poms or Poodles. THE LAWS PROTECT THEM, RIGHT ?
This reminds one of the law that makes victims of criminals IE If someone breaks into your house and you hurt him you get charged if you use excessive force YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO CALL THE POLICE AND WAIT UNTIL THEY ARE FINISHED THEIR COFFEE or if he trips on something after he breaks in and breaks his leg he is free to sue you because your property was unsafe PLEASE PEOPLE KEEP ALL ENTRANCES WHERE A THIEF COULD BREAK IN CLEAR OF ANYTHING HE MIGHT TRIP ON.
I KNOW I AM OFF TOPIC , JUST TRYING TO MAKE MY POINT .All of these senarios give me confidence in our Country's lawmakers and of course it just gets better each time we elect some new MORON that want to get his name in the news i DON'T THINK I HAVE TO NAME THE GUY.

babyrocky1

March 10th, 2006, 07:51 PM

What I find odd is that in every pit bull attack story there is always a neighbour who says: "if that were a child they'd be dead". I guess they only say that in pit bull attack stories. However I will say it here...."if that dead Pomeranian was a child it would be a dead child".I actually saw one report were the neighbour was talking about an alleged "pit bull" who attacked a dog and it was the REPORTER that asked "if that were a child would it be dead" and the person being interviewed just looked at the reporter stunned and didn't answer." They get the story they are looking for before they even start!:mad:

twodogsandacat

March 11th, 2006, 12:38 PM

Well I’ve said it before. These “if that were a child they’d be dead” statements are just inflammatory. Remember the stats: children are more often the victim in a dog attack, one death a year is the average in Canada (I am not belittling that number as it is one too many), an estimated four hundred thousand bites a year in Canada so no – the would not necessarily be dead.

The statement is the same as saying every time an adult is hit by a car and survives (“car accidents’ result in far more deaths in Toronto alone than dog attacks result in deaths in ALL of North America) that if the victim were a child ‘they’d be dead’.

Try this one - I tripped on a stair two weeks ago, “if that were a child- they’d be dead”.

And while I’m ranting notice I put the words “car accidents” in quotes above. In many cases these shouldn’t be called an accident. An adult of legal driving age makes a conscious decision to speed, run the light, drive impaired, be putting on makeup, reloading, programming the CD player…….or doing something other than paying full attention as they drive two tons of steel and plastic down a city street into another human being and we call them accidents.

OntarioGreys

March 15th, 2006, 05:28 AM

This situation is sad and unfortunate

Unless a dog has a solid secure fenced yard there is no way I would leave a pet unattended outside, it could have easily been a raccoon instead that could have came into the yard and killed the pom. In some communities that is near farmland or wildernwss , coyotes if hungry will go after small pets, a skunk with rabies may attempt to attack a pet, even owls and hawks will grab a small pet so the threats and dangers on not just from other dogs. Tying out a pet or using a radio controlled underground fence offers them no protection from intruders enters the property

The labs that attacked are part hunting breeds, some have higher prey drives than others to them the small dog was not a dog but game or prey. A couple of my own dogs could be iffy if they seen a small dog or cat running outside, even though they do live with a smaller dog and 2 cats, for them the running movement would likely trigger their chase instinct, if the animal runs from them they will only view it as prey, but if it stope and barks at them may throw thew out of kilter enough to realize this is not prey but actually another dog, realizing this I take precaution if I do go to a dog park I use a muzzle and watch especially if a small dog enters the park and will take him up to meet the small dog will hanging on him so that he can meet the dog and be know that this is a dog, he will then be able to watch the other dog run around and have no interest in chasing. I do not blame the labs they are acting on natural instinct, the owners however are another matter, they have a responsibilty to keep their dogs from wandering at large, and take precautions to prevent their dogs from injuring another animal if not small animal safe or has a high prey drive. Unfortunately the labs may pay with their lives for their owners stupidity and lack of responsibility

dee3041

September 6th, 2008, 11:03 AM

And yet again, these dogs were given back to their owner after climbing a fence a while ago and attacking a sheppard, the nite before last they attacked and ripped in two a small yorkie being walked by his elder uncle, another death and still no one does nothing. the poor sheppard that was attacked a while ago now has to have his leg removed. when does it all end.

luckypenny

September 6th, 2008, 01:08 PM

And yet again, these dogs were given back to their owner after climbing a fence a while ago and attacking a sheppard, the nite before last they attacked and ripped in two a small yorkie being walked by his elder uncle, another death and still no one does nothing. the poor sheppard that was attacked a while ago now has to have his leg removed. when does it all end.

Is there an article somewhere we can read this latest update?

familyoffreddy

September 18th, 2008, 07:14 PM

As a member of the family of the pomeranian "Freddy" that was killed by these same dogs, I am torn. I am torn by the belief that a dog is what the owner makes of it. If a dog is taught to chase, taught to kill, as is the case in a hunting dog, they are responsible. If a dog is shown love, is trained well and is cared for, then that is what they know. This is what I have always believed. However, what I was taught is that "You can take an animal out of the wild, but you can never take the wild out of an animal." This quote is the truest statement of any of them. Any dog can be vicous, any dog has the capability to attack. It is in there blood, since the dawn of time. They are a pack animal, whether a pit bull, a rotweiler, a doberman, a boxer or even a German Shepperd, which I happen to own one of. She is a great dog, I don't think she would ever hurt anyone, but again, you don't know. Anyone who has animals, needs to understand that they were once wild and that can never be bred out of them!

These two dogs, had gotten the taste of blood. That is not something they were ever going to forget. Unfortunately, it was too late for the small dogs that were killed by these dogs but again it was in their nature.

As far as dogs not being tied outside, Freddy for instance, used to like to run off on his own. He would always come home but it was not safe for him to be running through peoples yard where there may be dangerous chemicals, and other harmful things. It was also not safe for him to take that chance and run out in front of a moving vehicle and be killed that way. If the way to keep him safe and on his own property is to tie him up then that is what needed to be done. As the owner of the other two dogs should have done as well. Freddy was sitting on his own front proch on a winter morning, enjoying the sunshine, when two dogs came out of nowhere and shredded him to pieces. Is it Freddy's owners fault for tying him up on his own property, or is it the owner of the other dogs who didn't care enough to care?

aslan

September 18th, 2008, 08:39 PM

FamilyofFreddy, my deepest sympathies to you and the rest of your family. I thoroughly agree that the owners of these two dogs should be held responsible for the actions of their pets. I also think that unfortunate as it is, these dogs have not only tasted blood but have killed, and thus are a danger to everyone. Not only should the owner not get them back, but sadly i think they should be put down.

Love4himies

September 19th, 2008, 08:14 AM

familyoffreddy: I am so sorry for your loss, what a horrible way for your puppy to go :grouphug:. If these dogs are not rehabilitatable, I agree with Aslan, they should have been put down. After the first attack they should have never been given back to the owners and the owners should not be allowed to own dogs again.